Systems and methods for generating power in a communications system

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods by which voice/data communications may occur in multiple modes/protocols are disclosed. In particular, systems and methods are provided for multiple native mode/protocol voice and data transmissions and receptions with a computing system having a multi-bus structure, including, for example, a TDM bus and a packet bus, and multi-protocol framing engines. Such systems preferably include subsystem functions such as PBX, voice mail and other telephony functions, LAN hub and data router or switch functions. In preferred embodiments, a TDM bus and a packet bus are intelligently bridged and managed, thereby enabling such multiple mode/protocol voice and data transmissions to be intelligently managed and controlled with a single, integrated system. In particular, systems and methods for generating required telephony voltages directly on station cards, rather than on the basis of a large, central ringing or other power supply that supply such telephony voltages to each of the station cards, are disclosed. In accordance with the present invention, a plurality of station cards are provided in the telephony or communications system. One or more DC power supplies provide a source of DC voltage, such as 12 volts, to each of the station cards. The station cards are coupled to a processor of the system. The station cards may support a plurality of analog and/or digital telephony devices, such as telephones facsimile, voice mail, recording, speakerphone, conferencing or other type telephony devices.

This is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 11/480,255, filed Jun.29, 2006, entitled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TDM/PACKET COMMUNICATIONSUSING TELEPHONY STATION CARDS INCLUDING VOLTAGE GENERATORS, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,626,981, issued Dec. 1, 2009, which is a Continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 09/843,642, filed Apr. 25, 2001, entitled SYSTEMSFOR VOICE AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS HAVING TDM AND PACKET BUSES ANDTELEPHONY STATION CARDS INCLUDING VOLTAGE GENERATORS, now U.S. Pat. No.7,072,330, issued Jul. 4, 2006, which is a Continuation-in-Part ofapplication Ser. No. 09/055,072, filed Apr. 3, 1998, entitled SYSTEMSAND METHODS FOR MULTIPLE MODE VOICE AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS USINGINTELLIGENTLY BRIDGED TDM AND PACKET BUSES, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,181,694,issued on Jan. 30, 2001 and application Ser. No. 09/055,036, filed Apr.3, 1998, now abandoned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems and methods for transmittingand receiving voice and data in multiple modes, and more particularly tosystems and methods for multiple native mode voice and datatransmissions and receptions with a communications system having amulti-bus structure, including, for example, a time division multiplexed(“TDM”) bus, a packet bus, and a control bus, and multi-protocol framingengines, preferably including subsystem functions such as PBX, voicemail, file server, web server, communications server, telephony server,LAN hub and data router. The present invention in particular alsorelates to systems and methods for generating and supplying voltages tocircuits on telephony station cards coupled to such a communicationssystem for transmitting and receiving voice and data in multiple modes,and more particularly to systems and methods for generating suchvoltages with a power supply integrated on the station cards of suchcommunications systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Businesses, particularly small to medium size offices, typically have aneed for a variety of voice and data communications. For example, atypical office might have a dedicated fax machine, using a dedicated orshared telephone line, one or more telephone lines for voicecommunications, perhaps coupled to a central or distributed voice mailsystem(s), and one or more computers or computer networks, often coupledto telephone lines via one or more modems. Many offices now use theInternet in some form for business communications or research or thelike, often by way of a modem or modem pool coupled to individualcomputers.

Typically, such business communication needs have been fulfilled withpiecemeal technical solutions, typically from separate equipment andservice vendors, and with separate hardware, software and designconsiderations. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional small officecommunication configuration. Voice communication system 1 typically isimplemented by way of multiple analog trunks 16 from wide area network(“WAN”) 18. WAN 18 often consists of a telecommunication network by wayof a local telephone company or other telecommunications serviceprovider. Analog trunks 16 may be directed through switching system 10,which may be a conventional PBX or similar telephone switch. Telephones12 and voice mail system 14 are coupled to switching system 10. Often,dedicated analog line 16A is coupled to facsimile 44 for facsimilecommunications.

Data system 2 typically is implemented with a plurality of computers (orworkstations, etc.) 24 interconnected by way of packet network 26, whichmay be a standard Ethernet compliant network or other office network.Network 26 often is coupled to remote access server 32, which isconnected to one or more analog trunks 40, and which may include one ormore modems in a modem pool. Computers 24 may communicate with remotesystems via the modem pool of remote access server 32 over analog lines40 and WAN 42. Network 26 typically includes a connection to printer 22and file server 20. In more sophisticated systems, network 26 may becoupled to switching hub 28 and router 30, which is coupled to WAN 42over digital trunks 38. Data system 2 also may include a connectionbetween one or more of computers 24 to modem 36, which in term iscoupled to WAN 42 over dedicated analog trunk 40A.

Such a conventional system often is characterized by piecemeal equipmentand network solutions, limited or non-existent coordination andmanagement between voice system 1 and data system 2, non-optimized ornon-integrated equipment, and inefficient use of costly network services(telephone lines, data lines, etc.), such as duplicate and often idlephone and data network lines, often provided from multipleequipment/service providers. In general, such conventional systems areneither constructed nor operated in a manner to provide efficient andintegrated voice/data communications.

Moreover, PBXs and other telephony systems coupled to multipletelephones or similar telephony devices typically interface with suchdevices through what are often referred to as “station cards.” Suchdevices may be analog or, more recently, digital. Such cards typicallymust supply several DC and/or oscillating voltages to the telephonydevices in order for the devices to operate properly.

Traditionally, such voltages have been supplied in a more or lesscentralized manner, with a central power supply. Examples of suchconventional systems are illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. Conventionalsystem 110 of FIG. 6 includes a plurality of station cards 116, to whichare coupled a plurality of telephone lines 118. A plurality of telephonydevices 120 (such as conventional analog or digital telephones) arecoupled to telephone lines 118. Central power supply 112 is included insystem 110 in order to supply a plurality of DC and/or oscillatingvoltages to station cards 116 in a centralized manner over bus 114. Forexample, with conventional analog type telephones, bus 114 may provideDC voltages of −24 volts and −48 volts, and an oscillating waveform forringing of the telephones.

The conventional system of FIG. 7 includes a plurality of station cards126 coupled to central power supply 122. Station cards 126 includesubscriber line interface circuit (or “SLIC”) 128, such as the Am79R79Ringing Subscriber Line Interface Circuit manufactured by Advanced MicroDevices, Inc. (the data sheet for which is hereby incorporated byreference). SLIC 128 receives various DC voltages, such as −24 volts and−70 volts over bus 124, and also receives a TTL level clock. BecauseSLIC 128 may generate a ringing voltage internally from the −70 volts,bus 124 need not supply such an oscillating ringing voltage to stationcards 126. SLIC 128 provides appropriate DC and oscillating voltages, asrequired, to analog processing circuit 130, which in term is coupled toRJ interface 132. A variety of telephony devices 136 are coupled to RJinterface 132 via telephone line 134.

As with the embodiment of FIG. 6, however, power supply 122 is centrallyarranged and provides a central source of power for the plurality ofstation cards 126. Power supplies 112 and 122 typically must be designedto support the maximum number of station cards that the system isdesigned to handle in order to avoid having to upgrade the power supplyas station cards are added. Thus, such centrally provided power suppliestend to be larger, more costly, and consume more power than is requiredfor a typical application. Such centrally provided power supplies alsotend to provide a single point of failure, and also tend to dissipatesubstantial heat in a single location. Furthermore, such power suppliestend to provide limited fault tolerance, diagnostics and systemconfiguration flexibility.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is intended to address various disadvantages ofsuch conventional communication systems. The present invention providesvarious systems and methods, perhaps more succinctly a platform, bywhich voice and data communications may occur in multiple modes andvarious protocols, and more particularly systems and methods formultiple native mode voice and data transmissions and receptions with acommunications/computing system having a multi-bus structure, including,for example, a TDM bus, a packet bus and a control bus, andmulti-protocol framing engines, preferably including subsystem functionssuch as PBX, voice mail and other telephony functions, email and/or fileserver, Internet server, LAN hub, data router, and telephony stationcards including voltage generators. With the present invention, aplatform and various processes are provided in which a TDM bus and apacket bus are intelligently bridged and managed, thereby enabling suchmultiple mode/protocol voice and data transmissions to be intelligentlymanaged and controlled with a single, integrated system.

In preferred embodiments, a computer or other processor includes a localarea network controller, which provides routing and hubs and/or switchesfor one or more packet networks. The computer also is coupled to amultiple buffer/framer, which serves to frame/deframe data to/from thecomputer from TDM bus. The buffer/framer includes a plurality offramer/deframer engines, supporting, for example, ATM and HDLCframing/deframing, and raw buffering of voice data or the like. Thebuffer/framer is coupled to the TDM bus by way of a multiple port ormultiport switch/multiplexer, which includes the capability tointelligently map data traffic between the buffer/framer and the TDM busto various slots of the TDM frames. Preferably, a DSP pool is coupled toone or more the switch/multiplexer ports and/or the buffer/framer in amanner to provide various signal processing and telecommunicationssupport, such as dial tone generation, DTMF detection and the like. TheTDM bus is coupled to a various line/station cards, serving to interfacethe TDM bus with telephone, facsimiles and other telecommunicationdevices, and also with a various digital and/or analog WAN networkservices. The present invention provides a platform by which processingfunctions may be switched in to provide support for a wide range ofnetwork, vendor and application services.

With the present invention, a full PBX-type telecommunication system maybe provided by way of the computer/processor and associated telephonyhardware and software. Functions such as voice mail, automatedattendant, call forwarding, hold, transfer, caller ID, conferencing andother telephony functions may be similarly provided. While supportingsuch telephony functions in their native mode primarily by way of theTDM bus, the computer/processor also supports concurrent packet datatransmissions over the LAN subsystem and packet bus(es). As needed toefficiently support various voice/data communications in the particularoffice/work environment, the buffer/framer and switch/multiplexerprovide a multi-protocol router functionality, enabling the TDM bustraffic and the packet bus traffic to be intelligently bridged andmanaged without degradation of each other, and without requiringtranslation or transcoding. With the present invention, the same WANservices may be intelligently managed and controlled for simultaneousvoice, video and data traffic.

The computer/processor supports a variety of applications, such asremote configuration, management and back-up, bandwidth allocation andcontrol, least cost routing, voice over Internet Protocol (or “voiceover IP”), as well various telephony related applications. In certainpreferred embodiments, audio/video data streams, including such as H.320and H.323 data streams, also are intelligently managed and controlled.In certain preferred embodiments, management applications (such as theSNMP protocol) enable the system to be remotely monitored and configuredvia a web browser-type access.

In particular, the present invention is intended to provide systems andmethods for generating required telephony voltages directly on thestation cards, which are coupled to a multiple mode voice and datacommunications system, rather than on the basis of a large, centralringing or other power supply that supplies such telephony voltages toeach of the station cards.

In accordance with the present invention, a plurality of station cardsare provided in the telephony system. One or more DC power suppliesprovide a source of DC voltage, such as 12 volts, to each of the stationcards. The station cards are coupled to a processor of the system. Thestation cards may support a plurality of analog and/or digital telephonydevices, such as telephones facsimile, voice mail, recording,speakerphone, conferencing or other type telephony devices.Communications systems in accordance with the present inventionpreferably include various telephony/PBX, router and data switchfunctions.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to providesimultaneous voice, video and data communications with a single,integrated system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an intelligentlycontrolled and managed processor bridge between one or more TDM busesand one or more packet buses.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an integratedPBX, router and hub to support such simultaneous voice, video and datacommunications.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide amulti-protocol buffer/framer and switch/multiplexer in order to providemulti-protocol routing and intelligent time slot mapping to the TDM bus,preferably including DSP resources coupled to the buffer/framer.

A further object of the present invention is to provide systems andmethods allowing a broad set of services and functions to co-exist inthe same system, and leveraging shared resources while providing a highlevel interface and intelligence that allows for the shared resources tobe dynamically allocated and re-allocated.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide station cards,and methods for supplying power to station cards, utilizing anintegrated power supply.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide systemsusing such station cards.

A further object of the present invention is to provide such stationcards that support analog and/or digital telephony devices.

Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide acommunications system using such station cards that may be readilyupgraded by adding such station cards.

Other objects, features and advantages of the various embodiments of thepresent invention described herein will be apparent to those skilled inthe art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects and other advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent by describing in detail the preferred embodimentsof the present invention with reference to the attached drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates a typical, conventional office communicationsconfiguration;

FIG. 2 provides an overview of an office communications system inaccordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating preferred embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 provides a software/hardware overview of an office communicationssystem in accordance with preferred embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 illustrates the use of services/bandwidth allocation ruletable(s) in accordance with preferred embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a typical, conventional office communicationsconfiguration;

FIG. 7 provides an overview of an office communications system inaccordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates functional subsystems of an office communicationssystem in accordance with preferred embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating preferred embodiments of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 10 illustrates a communications system in accordance with preferredembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention will bedisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and/or substitutionsare possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the presentinvention.

In accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention,systems and methods are provided to enable voice, data, video and othercommunications to occur in an efficient and integrated manner,intelligently allocating and utilizing available communicationsresources. FIG. 2 provides an overview of such a system in accordancewith one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Communications system 50 provides an integrated system for controllingand managing communications such as in an office. Communications system50 communicates over ports 26 to file server 20, printer 22 and one ormore computers 24. Ports 26 typically includes a packet bus such asEthernet, “fast” Ethernet, ATM or other LAN technology (in otherembodiments, LAN technology, such as token ring, may be coupled to anappropriately configured port). Communications system 50 includesdevices for controlling ports 26, including controllers such as what areknown as a network interface controller (NIC), which may integrate amedia access controller (MAC) for control of and interface to ports 26.Connected to ports 26 may be a variety of devices, such as one or morefile servers 20, computers 24, printers 24 and other computing,peripheral or similar devices suitable for interconnection with ports26. Other network devices, such as routers, switches, bridges and thelike also may be connected to ports 26. In a one preferred embodiment,ports 26 is an Ethernet-type LAN to which is connected to a variety ofdevices as determined by the needs of the particular office/workenvironment. The present invention effective integration of the packetdata LAN and router-type functions with the telephony and serverfunctions, which enables unique operations and the initiation orcompletion of calls or transactions or the like, without having accessto traditional, dedicated devices, peripherals and communicationsservices.

Communications system 50 includes the functionality of what is known asa PBX (as will be described further). In preferred embodiments,communications system 50 is connected to a plurality oftelecommunication devices, such as telephones 12, facsimile 44 and othersuitable telecommunications devices and access and server functions(such as private voice mail, recording devices, WAN service interfacecards, etc.). What is important is that communications system 50 includeinterfaces for a plurality of telecommunications devices for theparticular and complete office/work environment and infrastructure.

Communications system 50 is coupled to WAN voice/data servicesnetwork(s) 58 through trunks 54. Voice/data services network(s) mayinclude private line, local or long distance carrier networks, Internet,intranet and/or any other current or future WAN-type network services.Trunks 54 may consist of high, medium or low speed digital and/or analoglines, either public or private, and in certain preferred embodimentsconsist of high speed dedicated resources such as what are known as T-1,PRI (Primary Rate ISDN), ATM, VDSL, HDSL, ADSL, wireless, cascade,proprietary and/or twisted pair analog lines from a local telephonecompany. What is important is the communications system 50 is coupled toWAN services, trunks and the like in a manner that the user, serviceprovider, administrator and/or algorithm has determined will provideadequate or required resources, on a cost-effective basis, for theparticular office/work environment and operating conditions.

In contrast to FIG. 1, the communications system of FIG. 2 provides anintegrated solution for voice and data communication services, to whichmay be connected the WAN network services and telecommunications,computing and other devices as determined by the particular office/workenvironment.

Referring to FIG. 3, various subsystems, components, buses and the likeof preferred embodiments of communications system 50 will be describedin greater detail. Communications system 50 is controlled by hostprocessor/system resources 70, which in preferred embodiments include acomputer powered, for example, by a commercially available or othermicroprocessor and an embedded and/or commercially available operatingsystem). What is important is that processor/system resources 70 providesufficient processing power, memory and storage resources (RAM, ROM,hard disk, magnetic or other storage, etc.), bus and other resources inorder to control the various subsystems and components as will bedescribed. IN particular, computer/system resources 70 enables automaticinternal negotiation, control and enabling of services and applications.Although not expressly shown, processor/system resources 70 also mayinclude other components of a relatively high-end personal computer,workstation or server, such as a display device, keyboard, serial ports,parallel ports, power supply and the like. The various subsystems andcomponents of communications system 50 are intelligently controlled,managed and monitored by processor/system resources 70. Processor/systemresources 70 provides system and server management software and thelike, and a platform for various server applications as describedherein.

Host processor/system resources 70 is coupled to buffer/framer 72 viabus 84, which in preferred embodiments consists of a computer bus suchas what are known as a PCI bus or ISA bus (in other embodiments, othersuitable computer-type buses are utilized, which may include proprietarylocal buses). Buffer/framer 72 includes buffer 71 and preferablyincludes a plurality of multi-protocol framing/deframing engines, suchas for what are known as asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) or high-leveldata link control (HDLC) protocols, which may be synchronous orasynchronous. In other embodiments, other communication protocolframers/deframers are provided, as may be desired by the particularoffice/work environment. Buffer/framer 72 in certain preferredembodiments includes, for example, one or more ATM framers/deframers 73Aand one or more, and preferably a plurality of, HDLC framers/deframers73B. Although not expressly shown, buffer/framer 72 includes othercontrolling circuits (such as a slot mapping memory,multiplexers/demultiplexers, arbitration, control and other circuitry)such as, for example, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,018 to DeJager,et al. for “MULTI-PROTOCOL PACKET FRAMING OVER AN ISOCHRONOUS NETWORK,”which is hereby incorporated by reference. As will be described ingreater detail, buffer/framer 72 includes the capability to transfer rawor protocol-processed data, which may be mapped to particular slots ofTDM bus 78 and made available on different ports. Buffer/framer 72 iscontrolled by processor/system resources 70 as diagrammaticallyindicated by control line(s) 92 (control line(s) 92 may be implementedas part of a bus structure, such as bus 84). In preferred embodiments,processor/system resources 70 includes redundant disk or other storage,redundant power supplies and data back-up to magnetic or other media inorder to enhance fault tolerance of the system.

Processor/resources 70 also may be connected to DSP 76. DSP 76preferably consists of a single digital signal processor ormulti-digital signal processor resource pool, which serves to provide avariety of functions within communications system 50. In preferredembodiments, DSP 76 generates dial tones (such as for telephones 12),DTMF digit detection and decoding, echo cancellation, coding/decodingfunctions, voice conferencing, voice compression, voice recognition andthe like. In other embodiments, DSP 76 performs data compression,transcoding, processing for voice communications using an Internetprotocol (“IP”) or the like. In general, DSP 76 provides a set ofprocessing and memory resources to support the various voice/dataservices controlled and managed by processor/resources 70. Asillustrated by bus connection 84A, DSP 76 alternatively may be coupleddirectly to TDM bus 78.

Switch/multiplexer 74 communicates bidirectionally with buffer/framer 72and preferably from DSP 76, as illustrated, over bus 86.Switch/multiplexer 74 also communicates with TDM bus 78, as illustrated,over bus 90. TDM bus 78 preferably is a time division multiplexed bus asis known in the art (such as, for example, what is known as an MVIP ormulti-vendor integration protocol type bus), and provides in certainpreferred embodiments 256 channels/slots per TDM frame (the presentinvention is not limited to a single TDM bus; in alternativeembodiments, more than one TDM bus or other types of TDM buses areutilized). TDM bus 78 allows communication between devices on the bus byway of circuit switching techniques. This type of switching allows forsimple and inexpensive communication of voice through, for example, whatare known as pulse code modulation (“PCM”) techniques.Switch/multiplexer 74 preferably is implemented with one or moreswitching/serial time division multiplexing circuits, such as, forexample, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,921 to Swenson, et al. for“ISOCHRONOUS SERIAL TIME DIVISION MULTIPLEXER,” which is herebyincorporated by reference. Switch/multiplexer 74, under control ofprocessor/system resources 70, provides the capability for variousvoice/data signals to be controllably switched to desired slots of TDMbus 78.

Coupled to TDM bus 78 are line, station, trunk, or other interface cards82. Cards 82 provide CODEC, line interface, off-hook detect and otherfunctions as are known in the art to support various telecommunicationdevices (such as telephones 12 and facsimile 44) and WAN-type networkservices (such as voice/data services 58) that are communicating withcommunications system 50 via TDM bus 78. In preferred embodiments cards82 provide points of termination for a plurality of telephones 12, oneor more facsimiles 44, and various T-1, PRI, ATM, analog and/or otherWAN-type network services as determined by the particular office/workenvironment. Cards 92, under control of processor/system resources 70,may include points of termination for emergency or backup telephoneservices and the like, such as in the event of a power failure or toprovide analog services in the event a dedicated resource such as a T-1is unavailable for some reason.

Communication system 50 also may include fax modem 75, which, undercontrol of processor/system resources 70, may process incoming/outgoingfacsimile transmissions. In the preferred embodiment, fax modem 75 iscoupled to TDM bus 78 as illustrated, although in other embodiments faxmodem 75 may be coupled in alternative arrangements, such as toswitch/multiplexer 74 and/or DSP 76.

Communication system 50 also may include available card slots on TDM bus78 for one or more module upgrade 77. Additional resources and/orfunctionality may be added to communication system 50 as needed by wayof module or line card upgrade(s) 77, or by, for example, the additionof one more cards such as ATM controller 79B and DSP 79C. Through theuse of such module upgrades or additional cards, etc., one or moreminimal configurations of communication system 50 may be provided, withadditional resources and/or functionality added by the insertion ofadditional cards to TDM bus 78. In accordance with preferred embodimentsof the present invention, software upgrades for processor/systemresources 70, or for other resources in the communications system, alsomay be applied.

Processor/system resources 70 also is coupled to one or more packetbuses, such as packet buses 80A and 80B, which may be through a bus suchas LAN bus 81. Effectively, packet buses 80A and 80B provide multiplehubs or switches to intercommunicate between one or more packetnetworks, which in preferred embodiments are Ethernet networks. Itshould be noted that the bus configuration of FIG. 3 may be considered“logical”, and in preferred embodiments the physical bus configurationmay be such that TDM bus 78 and packet buses 80A and/or 80B are part ofthe same physical bus. In such embodiments, packet buses 80A and/or 80Balso can intercommunicate directly with central resources (such asprocessor/system resources 70) as well as station cards and WAN cards(or any other cards) coupled to the TDM bus (this is illustrated in FIG.3 by card 79D, which is a card simultaneously inserted into/coupled toboth TDM bus 78 and packet bus 80 A and which may comprise, for example,a combined LAN interface/functionality and central office (or other WANinterface) card. Such a combined interface card, which may support bothLAN and WAN functions (such as described elsewhere herein), enablessubstantial advantages over conventional systems.

Coupled to packet buses 80A and/or 80B are a variety of computing-typedevices, such as computers 24, printer 22, other computers, fileservers, backup or storage resources, other networks and the like.Processor/system resources 70, in software and/or hardware, provides aLAN/network subsystem, which includes routing and other relatedfunctions to support data communications to and from packet buses 80Aand/or 80B and TDM bus 78, etc., through several paths or methods.

In preferred embodiments, a more direct connection between packet bus80A and/or 80B may be established by way of embedded router or bridge83. Router/bridge 83 includes a CPU, TCP/IP controller, router, stack,Ethernet interface or other functionality as may be desired to coupleLAN bus 81 to, for example, one or more HDLC controllers 79A. Throughthe use of router/bridge 83, communications between packet buses 80A and80B may be accomplished while consuming minimal resources ofprocessor/system resources 70.

FIG. 4 provides a software/hardware overview of an office communicationssystem in accordance with preferred embodiments of the presentinvention. It should be noted that the preferred embodiment of FIG. 3,with appropriate software in processor/system resources 70, may providethe software/hardware described in connection with FIG. 4, as will beappreciated by those skilled in the art.

At the server applications level, various software applications may beprovided for operation in conjunction with the hardware illustrated, forexample, in FIG. 3. Such software applications may include what are knowas least cost routing (“LCR”), best quality of service (“BQOS”) andbandwidth (“B/W”) rules 21. LCR, BQOS and B/W rules 21 provide tables,information, rules and/or algorithms by which data and voicecommunications may be allocated and/or controlled with respect to, forexample, the various types of voice/data network services that areavailable to communications system 50. Such information may include thecurrent cost of utilizing various resources (based on time of date,amount of usage, integrated amount of usage over some period of time,etc.), and also priority rules for the various types of communicationsprovided by communications system 50. For example, phone calls may beassigned a priority 1, facsimile calls a priority 2, VoIP calls apriority 3, facsimile over IP calls a priority 4, category 1 datacommunications a priority 5, and other data communications a priority 6.In preferred embodiments, the priority assignments may change by time ofday or month, and/or the priority assignments may be different withrespect to different network resources and the like.

Server encryption applications 23 may be provided in order to provideencryption or similar coding or processing of voice/data communicationsprocessed by communications system 50. VoIP gatekeeper 50 may beprovided to service and control voice over Internet protocol (“VoIP”)communications. As more specifically described below, various types ofVoIP communications may be effectively managed and controlled inaccordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention, such as,for example, a determination that acceptable conditions exist on theInternet for such communications. Directory 27 may be provided in orderto make various types of directory information available to users ofcommunications system 50. Directory information provided by directory 50may include names, telephone extensions, address or other personal orwork information regarding persons or departments, etc., serviced bycommunications system 50. Directory 27 also may include similardirectory type information for persons or departments, etc. in a remoteor other locations, such as may be accessed through voice/data services58.

In general, with the present invention other applications 29 may beprovided to support various types of communications in accordance withpreferred embodiments of the present invention.

Intelligent/dynamic B/W, service and resource management 31 is providedto effectively and efficiently control and allocate and de-allocateservices and communications resources, such as in accordance with LCR,BQOS, B/W rules 21 (e.g., rules to enable lowest cost, highest qualityor otherwise desirable management and control of network or otherresources, etc.) or other applications 29 or the like. B/W management 31also receives as inputs information indicating the total number andtypes of network resources (of voice/data services 58, for example) thatare available to communications system 50, and their status andavailability at any given point in time. B/W management 31 may receiveas an input, or may generate internally, information indicating how muchof a measured usage resource may be available at a given point in time(for example, “frame relay,” “private virtual channel” or other networkservices may be provided on the basis of a predetermined amount of datatransmission per fixed time period for a fixed price, with additionalcharges for usage in excess of the predetermined amount, etc.). As morefully described below, based on the currently available and currentlyutilized services and resources, B/W management 31 may allocate andde-allocate such services and resources in a desired and/or costefficient manner.

Services 37, which may be supported by database storage 35 (which may beprovided as a part of processor/system resources 70), include dataswitching services, router services and PBX station services. Ingeneral, in accordance with preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, and utilizing resources such as described in connection withFIG. 3, various communication-related services may be advantageouslysupplied by communications system 50.

For example, data switching services may be provided such as byLAN/NDIS/DDI drivers 39 (LAN, NDIS and DDI being exemplary) throughhardware modules such as switched Ethernet 45 and hub 47. Routingservices may be provided such as through WAN drivers (specific networkservices such as PRI and T-1 being exemplary) through hardware modulessuch as T-1 module(s) 49, ISDN module(s) 51, central office-plain oldtelephone service (CO-POTS) module(s) 53, V.35 module(s) (it should beunderstood that various hardware modules may be utilized in accordancewith preferred embodiments of the present invention, as desired toimplement the various data switching, routing and other communicationsconnections as may be determined by the needs of the particularoffice/work environment). PBX station services, such as automatedattendant, reception, voice mail and the like, may be provided throughstation manager 43. Station manager 43 provides hardware for connectionto various telecommunications devices, such as phones 12, facsimile 44,etc. In general, station manager 43 provides sufficient interfacehardware in order to connect to the various devices that may bedetermined by the needs of the particular office/work environment).

Referring now to FIG. 5, a general flow chart will be described forillustrating the use of services/bandwidth allocation rules inaccordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention. Serverapplications, such LCR, BQOS, B/W rules 21, may be considered to havevarious rule sets, such voice rules 93, data rules 95 and dial-up rules97 (other rule sets may be provided). Communications system 50 monitorsinputs (illustrated as monitor input block 91 of FIG. 5), and based onsuch inputs and the overall service/network resources available, and inaccordance with voice rules 93, data rules 95 and dial-up rules 97,allocates and de-allocates resources (illustrated asallocate/re-allocate resources block 99 of FIG. 5).

Exemplary operations of such preferred embodiments will now bedescribed.

In the event a user picks up one of telephones 12, an off-hook conditionis detected by the appropriate card 82, which signals processor/systemresources 70 of the off-condition. Processor/system resources 70controls switch/multiplexer 74 to couple the appropriate card 82 to DSP76, which generates a dial tone that is coupled to the appropriatetelephone 12. The user hears the dial tone and may then proceed to placethe desired call. DSP 76 detects the digits of the telephone number ofthe desired call and provides the detected digits to processor/systemresources 70. For an internal call, processor/system resources 70directs that the called internal telephone receive a ring signal fromthe appropriate card 82. Upon pick-up of the called internal telephone,the telephone connection between the internal phones is established byway of TDM bus 78 and the appropriate cards 82.

For an external call, processor/system resources 70 attempts toestablish the desired connection through the appropriate cards 82 andavailable voice/data services 58. In attempting to establish such avoice communication connection, processor/system resources preferablyfollows the general flow illustrated in FIG. 5. Namely, in accordancewith available resources (such as of voice/date services 58) and rulessuch as voice rules 93, data rules 95, dial-up rules 97, etc., anexternal voice communication may be established by, for example, a POTSline connection, an ISDN B channel, a VoIP connection, etc. Inaccordance with the present invention, resources may be allocated forthe processing of such an external call based on the available resourcesat the particular time and applicable rules (which may include time ofday, priority of call, etc.)

Incoming calls are detected by the appropriate cards 82 and signaled toprocessor/system resources 70. Connections of voice incoming calls totelephones 12 are established under control of processor/systemresources 70 over TDM bus 78.

Referring now to FIG. 8, preferred embodiments of station card 100including an integrated power supply in accordance with the presentinvention will now be described. The present invention preferably isutilized in a communications system such as described earlier herein.

Station card 100 includes power supply 150, which receives a supplyvoltage (such as 12 volts) from an external power supply incommunications system 50. Station card 100 receives commands and couplessignals to a processor in communications system 50 through bus interface170. Control signals are passed from the processor to control block 168through bus interface 170.

Power supply 150 provides the necessary voltages to interface blocks 152over bus 164. Interface blocks 152 include the required interface logicand related circuitry required to couple to telephony devices such astelephones 160, as will be more fully described in connection with FIG.9. Interface blocks 152 receive control and other signals from controlblock 168 over bus 166, and supply control and other signals to controlblock 168 over bus 166. Interface blocks 152 are coupled to telephonydevices, such as telephones 160, through lines 158 and RJ interface 156,preferably through protect circuit 154. Station card 100, withintegrated power supply 150 receiving, for example, only a single DCvoltage from a central power supply for purposes of supplying voltagesto the telephony devices, may provide a complete interface between avariety of telephony devices and communications system 50.

FIG. 9 illustrates a preferred embodiment of interface block 152 for apreferred arrangement of analog telephony devices. In the preferredembodiment, interface block 152 includes four SLICs 172, whichpreferably are ringing subscriber line interface circuits, such as theAm79R79 Ringing Subscriber Line Interface Circuit manufactured byAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc., the data sheet for which is herebyincorporated by reference. (In other embodiments, other numbers andconfigurations of SLICs or equivalent circuits are utilized.) SLICs 172receive various DC voltages, such as −24 volts and −70 volts, over bus164 from power supply 150. To interface with telephony devices such astelephones 160, interface block 152 also includes, in the preferredembodiment, quad SLAC 174, which preferably is a quad subscriber lineaudio processing circuit, such as the Am79Q02/021/031 Quad SubscriberLine Audio-Processing Circuit manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices,Inc., the data sheet for which is hereby incorporated by reference. (Inother embodiments, other devices, numbers and configurations equivalentto SLAC 174 are utilized, such as other codec type devices.) SLAC 174preferably provides four channels of codec and filter circuits in orderto process audio information received from or transmitted to analogtelephony devices. With such preferred embodiments, a single interfaceblock 152 includes circuitry to interface with four telephony devices,etc.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the presentinvention also may be applied to digital telephony devices. For digitaltelephony devices, interface blocks 152 are modified, as codec functionsare no longer required, and power supply 150 supplies appropriatevoltages for the digital telephony devices, perhaps through appropriatecontrol or logic circuitry, in order to generate voltages and controlsignals to control the digital telephony devices.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, communicationssystem 50 may include one or more station cards 100 for interfacing withanalog telephony devices, and/or one or more station cards 100 forinterfacing with digital telephony devices. In certain alternativeembodiments, communication system 50 also may include one or morestation cards 100 for interfacing with both analog and digitaltelephones (i.e., including circuits for interfacing with analogtelephony devices and circuits for interfacing with digital telephonydevices). In accordance with such embodiments, communications system 50may be conveniently upgraded by insertion of additional station cards100, for example, with the central power supply of the communicationssystem providing a single DC voltage (or voltages) to the differingstation cards.

FIG. 10 illustrates communications system 180, which preferably is acommunications system such as described earlier herein (e.g.,communications system 50 described earlier). Communications system 180includes power supply 182, which supplies power to the variouscomponents and subsystems of communications system 180, and whichpreferably supplies a single DC voltage to a plurality of station cards100 for purposes of supplying voltages to the telephony devices (othervoltages, such as +3 volts, +5 volts, etc., may be supplied to thestation cards for logic circuitry and the line on the station card,etc.). Because station cards 100 include integrated, on-board powersupply 150, station cards 100 preferably receive only a single DCvoltage from power supply 182 for supplying voltages to the telephonydevices, and generate “on-board” all voltages required to interface withthe various telephony devices that may be coupled to communicationssystem 180. It should be noted that while FIGS. 10 and 8 depict, forillustrative purposes only, telephone-type telephony devices, othertelephony devices such as facsimile, voice mail, recording,speakerphone, conferencing or other type telephony devices also could becoupled to communications system 150.

As illustrated, communications system 180 preferably includes integratedPBX station 186 including, but not limited to, voice mail, automatedattendant, conferencing and other functions, and also router 190, dataswitch 188, processor 184 (which serves to control the variouscomponents and subsystems of communications system 180, etc., as may bemore fully appreciated from co-pending application Ser. No. 09/055,072,filed on Apr. 3, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,181,694. As illustrated inthe referenced co-pending application, a variety of WAN and othernetwork services/resources may be coupled to communications system 180,as may be desired for the particular office/work environment andinfrastructure.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, having anintegrated, on-board power supply on station cards conveys substantialconveniences, advantages, and benefits upon the designer/operator ofcommunications systems such as have been described. The use of suchstations cards is particularly useful and advantageous when applied to ahighly integrated communications system, such as described earlierherein.

Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specificpreferred and other embodiments, it is evident that many substitutions,alternatives and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the artin light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, the invention isintended to embrace all of the alternatives and variations that fallwithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, itshould be understood that, in accordance with the various alternativeembodiments described herein, various systems, and uses and methodsbased on such systems, may be obtained. The various refinements andalternative and additional features also described may be combined toprovide additional advantageous combinations and the like in accordancewith the present invention. Also as will be understood by those skilledin the art based on the foregoing description, various aspects of thepreferred embodiments may be used in various subcombinations to achieveat least certain of the benefits and attributes described herein, andsuch subcombinations also are within the scope of the present invention.All such refinements, enhancements and further uses of the presentinvention are within the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication system for communicating via acommunication network, the communication system comprising: at least afirst packet bus in communication with one or more communicationsdevices and adapted for transferring packetized data within the system;a processor; wherein the processor selectively controls packet-basedcommunications via the first packet bus; wherein the communicationsystem includes one or more modules for controlling communications withone or more of the communications devices, wherein at least one of themodules comprises: an input for receiving an input power of a firstlevel from a power supply external to the at least one module; a powergeneration circuit on the at least one module, wherein the powergeneration circuit generates from the input power one or more outputpower signals of at least a second power level different from the firstpower level for generating signals for the one or more communicationsdevices; and one or more interface circuits receiving the one or moreoutput power signals, wherein the one or more interface circuitsgenerate signals for communicating with the one or more communicationsdevices.
 2. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the interfacecircuits are coupled to the one or more communications devices, whereinthe communication system further comprising one or more protect circuitscoupled between the one or more interface circuits and the one or morecommunications devices.
 3. The communication system of claim 1, whereinat least one module is coupled to a plurality of communications devicesand includes a plurality of interface circuits, the module furthercomprising: a control circuit coupled to the plurality of interfacecircuits; a bus interface coupled to the processor; wherein the controlsignals are received from the processor through the bus interface,wherein the control circuit controls the interface circuits and controlsoperation of the plurality of communications devices.
 4. Thecommunication system of claim 1, wherein the one or more communicationsdevices comprise analog communications devices.
 5. The communicationsystem of claim 4, wherein the interface circuits each comprise acircuit for interfacing with and supplying power to the one or morecommunications devices and an audio processing circuit.
 6. Thecommunication system of claim 1, wherein the one or more communicationsdevices comprise digital communications devices.
 7. The communicationsystem of claim 6, wherein the interface circuits comprise control/logiccircuits for supplying power to the digital communications devices. 8.The communication system of claim 1, wherein the module is coupled to aplurality of communications devices, wherein the plurality ofcommunications devices include both analog communications devices anddigital communications devices, wherein an analog interface circuit isprovided for each analog communications device, and a digital interfacecircuit is provided for each digital communications device.
 9. Thecommunication system of claim 1, wherein one or more of thecommunications devices comprise a telephony device.
 10. A method forgenerating power for communications devices via one or more modules in acommunication system, the communication system communicating via acommunication network, the method comprising: providing at least onecommunications module in the communication system, wherein the at leastone module controls communications with one or more of thecommunications devices; receiving via an input on the at least onemodule an input power of a first level from a power supply external tothe module but internal to the communication system; based in part onthe received input power, generating on the at least one module via apower generation circuit one or more output power signals of at least asecond level different from the first level for generating signals forcontrolling communications with the one or more communications devices;and receiving the one or more output power signals with one or moreinterface circuits on the at least one module, wherein the one or moreinterface circuits generate signals for communicating with the one ormore communications devices.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein theinterface circuits are coupled to the one or more communicationsdevices, wherein the communication system includes one or more protectcircuits coupled between the one or more interface circuits and (the oneor more communications devices.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein theat least one module is coupled to a plurality of communications devicesand includes a plurality of interface circuits, wherein the at least onemodule includes: a control circuit coupled to the plurality of interfacecircuits; a bus interface coupled to the processor; wherein the controlsignals are received from the processor through the bus interface,wherein the control circuit controls the interface circuits and controlsoperation of the plurality of communications devices.
 13. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the one or more communications devices comprise analogcommunications devices.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein theinterface circuits each comprise a circuit for interfacing with andsupplying power to the one or more communications devices and an audioprocessing circuit.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or morecommunications devices comprise digital communications devices.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the interface circuits comprisecontrol/logic circuits for supplying power to the digital communicationsdevices.
 17. The method of claim 10, wherein the module is coupled to aplurality of communications devices, wherein the plurality ofcommunications devices include both analog communications devices anddigital communications devices, wherein an analog interface circuit isprovided for each analog communications device, and a digital interfacecircuit is provided for each digital communications device.
 18. Themethod of claim 10, wherein one or more of the communications devicescomprise a telephony device.